Here’s a story i have absolutely no trouble believing:
Miami Tops Auto Club List for Rude Drivers
By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer
Stressed Miami drivers speed, tailgate and cut off other drivers so frequently that the city earned the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.
AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance, also listed Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Boston among the top five cities for rude driving.
Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta were rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers, who were less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at other motorists.
Well, besides the auto-sociopaths we have down here, there are also the people who are just plain too old to drive. So both ends of the spectrum are quite well represented.
I have to say that drivers here aren’t exactly rude, much, but there seems to be a fair amount of taking turns and exits from the far lane. Hence my “Ambien” quip. I understand some drivers wind up doing some pretty crazy things if they take it regularly, particularly if they drink alcohol when taking it. Some sort of effect carries over into the day hours.
Got run into last year by a young lady trying to take a left turn from the center lane on a one-way street. I was in the left lane, and we were both idling at the stoplight waiting for it to turn. It’s not like she couldn’t have seen me.
Drivers around southwest Michigan are the stupidest. Calling them rude would imply the mentality to actually “try” to bother you.
I’ll tell you a short tale of a surprising incident.
A car broke down in front of me at a stop light the other day. I couldn’t change lanes due to the traffic. Then a kind person let me over. They were driving an SUV!!! I couldn’t believe it. An SUV driver showing courtesy. It’s shaken my whole belief system.
I hate idiot tailgaters!!!
I hate impatient morons on the road!
Do these people have NO comprehension of physics, and the geometric increase in the force of impact if you closely follow someone at high speed?
Can we please issue special car-top flags for jerks so I’ll know to avoid them? It will be a red flag that says: “Move. I’m more important than you.”
The last several years of my life have been about teaching teenagers to drive, urging caution, alerting them to risk factors. I drive carefully, and with great respect for the variables of human error and physics. Squeaky clean driving record.
Can you tell I was tailgated and honked at by a cretin on my way back from carpool drop-off this morning?
(I am so regretting that I didn’t make my Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera face at him as he huffed past me as I was waiting to turn into my street.)
You should come down South a little more often…
Drive 95 or the Palmetto anywhere near rush hour and you’ll see some fine examples of idiot driving.
Miami drivers seem to be sort of a unique mix of rude people from NYC, NJ, Boston, Bogota, Buenos Aires, etc. Probably a big part of it is the rapid growth down here, the infrastructure is not enough to meet the demand for transportation. I was surprised to see Phoenix way up the list too, maybe a similar situation.
Montreal drivers have no lane discipline or apparent concern for safety (especially for that of cyclists), rarely use turn signals, tailgate, and flout speed limits and all the other rules of the road with aplomb. But I see little road rage - I think people expect crazinesss and don’t seem to get worked up about it.
Ever since the Red Sox won the World Series, Bostonians have considered second place in anything so, well, second place.
At one time Boston had the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the country. Can’t really blame that on the drivers though. What other communities call jaywalking, Bostonians call a constitutional right to cross any street anytime, anywhere and if you peak at the traffic, it’s cheating.
This reminds me of the stereotype of the “crazy Italian driver”. Someone once mentioned that it’s actually the Belgians who are the craziest drivers. The Italians just look more like they’re enjoying it so. Hence the rap.
Yeah, I have to say south Florida is the worst driving I’ve seen in the US. I’ll go to other cities where people tell me the driving is bad and I usually just laugh.
I had an older guy tell me once “Well you see, we’ve got all the Cubans hyped up on their cafe con leche, and mix that with the New Yorkers who are always in a hurry, mixed with all the old people who can’t drive, mixed with all of the other cultures down here, and you see why driving is so bad.” - (I hope that comment doesn’t offend anyone. That’s the old guy talking, not me.
Up here in Fort Lauderdale it is bad; Miami is out right crazy. But the way people drive down here is a reflection of how they treat one another in the stores and out in public. I think it has a lot to do with the large population and also the fact that a lot of people don’t stay in south Florida for more than 5 years.
Sorry for the rant. I love it down here. I just can’t stand the way people drive or the lack of respect they have for one another and the must have it now attitude. It really is beautiful! And some of the best diving in the US!
Exactly. It’s not just Miami to blame.
I’ve lived in the North end of Miami over 45 years. Immigrant driving complaints are well noted… like slow left turns from the middle lane, while completely ignoring the dedicated left turn lane, or failing to stop when making a right turn on red. (oh… you have to stop first???)
Yes, it’s only a small reflection of the ‘personality’ behind the wheel.
That said, the award goes to the drivers 30 miles North (in Fort Lauderdale) where you find: no matter how fast you drive (like 85 in a 65 zone) someone in a BMW will get right on your ass and flash his high beams like you’re holding up traffic !!
Is that amazing? “GO AROUND MORON… you’ve got 3 other lanes”
One final rant (and I’ll shut up) I think it’s required… if you own a big truck, is to go to a**hole courses that teach you to hone the rude skills needed to cut people off, sliding lane changes when you don’t really have enough room for a proper lane change, highway tailgating at 10’ or less regardless of the speed, parking diagonally to use up 3 spaces… and my favorite: anticipation U-turns. Instead of waiting for the oncoming traffic to pass, you time their arrival and put yourself in-motion so you are 90% through the turn and inches from oncoming traffic.
